Matau Henries
Matau Henries (4 January 43 BNE – 6 November 10 AANE) was a Uranian politician and leader of the Great Nationalist Freedom Front (Uranian: Grescht Rectreme Ohrst Schlechte, abbreviated GROSE). He was the authoritarian leader of the Uranian Territory for ten years, serving as president-for-life from 0 ANE until his assassination. A veteran of the New Era Wars, he went on to join the far-right organisation Ohrst, and re-brand them as GROSE. He led them in a coup d'état against the newly elected Uranian Government following a humiliating election defeat after which he took control of the countryand made himself dictator-for-life. He was a strong anti-communist and a racist, and petty apartheid was made part of daily life, with ethnic Uranians controlling everything. Work camps were set up for anyone who disagreed or spoke out against his government, however, he remained popular among middle and upper-class ethnic Uranians, who flourished socially, politically and economically under him, but hated and feared by others. Mass immigration from the Territory was common, as millions fled from his reign of terror. His invasion of Franjoekillansie led to international condemnation of him and his government. His annexation of Jaspar in 7 ANE led to further tensions between him and the west. The full scale invasions of Rilgar and Carsia in 9 ANE and 10 ANE respectivly by his forces led the world into the Great Uranium War in which up to 50 million people lost their lives. Henrys was murdered by two of him bodyguards on 6 November 10 ANE. His death lead to the rule of his twin brother Tomas, who transformed the country into an imperial empire, and under his extreme tyrannical rule, led the Uranium Territory to ultimate descruction Early Life Childhood Born on the 4 January 23 BNE in Beltondod to parents Hans and Jutta Henries, Henrys was named Matau Henries. He was one of twins, the other being Tomas. They were the third eldest, behind Hans Jr., Klaudia and Gustav. Born two years after them was Johann, who would go on to become a Communist, narrowly escaping death at his brothers hands by fleeing to Russianiaq, and Maria. They lived in a small slum with two other families, the Warensteins, a Jewish family, and the Gorings. At aged 2 he moved to Werk near Tynemouth. He attended East Werk Elementary School (Elst Werk Einsmagen Schule) a nd then Werk Secondary School (Werk Geinsmagen Schule). He was noted as being a loud, chari smatic boy who was very popular with his friends. He did however, have a strong hatred for school and his teachers. He left school at 15 in 6 BNE with 2 Primary Degrees in Uranian and Art. He became an apprentice for an old fish seller called Alfengruber who sold fish from an old cart in the town square. By this point, he had not really developed any political views, and the views that he did have were even slightly liberal. Military Service At aged 18, in 5 BNE, he joined the army. He was initially given the job as a messenger, travelling around the Western Uranium Territory delivering letters, notices and other peoples draft cards. At 19 in late 4 BNE, he was conscripted into the combatant sector of the army and sent into the 212 Infantry Division (Tynemouth and Werk). By March 3 BNE, aged 20, He found himself at the Aryan Lake, the scene of three massive battles between the Carsian Empire and the Uranium Territory with over 1 million military and civilian deaths occurring in that very small area alone. On the 20 January 3 BNE, he and 105,000 other men were ordered out of their trench and told to advance. After a day’s bitter fighting, his regiment had reached the village in the middle of the Carsian pocket. In the town square, he and three others were hit by a Carsian shell, killing three of them. Henrys survived and awoke two weeks later at a field hospital in Rilgar. He was sent home to recover. On his return journey, he learned of the stalemate at the Fourth Battle of Aryan Lake. He was bitterly determined to return, but his health deteriorated rapidly and he was sent to Werk General Hospital. Entry into Nationist Politics In March, a cease fire was declared between the two sides. Henrys was in hospital when he heard the news. By this point, he had developed strong nationalistic political ideas and a hatred for Carsia. He left hospital in April and returned to Werk, but left 2 weeks later for Beltondod. He rented a room in the West side of the city using money he had inherited from his late father. It was here that he began to read up on far-right politics and Uranian nationalism. His mixture of a bitter want for revenge against the Carsians and the fanatical ravings of his racist, half mad room mate Marc Melch, led him to join the far-right nationalist group Ohrst (literally "Freedom"). Ohrst controlled several neighbourhoods of Beltondod with an iron fist. There was a long running civil war between the Communists and Ohrst. Within a year, nearly 1000 nationalists and communists were killed in fights, gun battles and public executions. In August 3 BNE, the army moved in and destroyed all traces of Ohrst and other nationalist groups. The leaders were executed, including Marc Melch, while thousands of their supporters fled. It was at this point, Henrys disappeared until appearing in Central City in November, along with a new friend. GROSE On 11 November 3 BNE, GROSE was founded by Henrys and a group of 500 ex-Ohrst members in an eating hall in Central City. The eating hall, mobbed by hundreds of brawling men in black uniforms was the scene of the beginning of almost the end of the world. The meeting was organised after the young Henries lay down his philosophies to Anton Feltz, a high-ranking Ohrst member, and suggested they start a political party that would use a mixture of respectability and propaganda to win over the people. At the start of the metting, Ludwig Hermann Tobias, a young, handsome air-ace from the Rilgorian War who had met Henries in August at a nationalist meeting, and become his closest friend, stood up and stoke a few words about the injustices of the Republican government. Afterwards, 20 year-old Henries and amazed the audience with a perfectly drafted and delivered speech. After 3 hours of passionate talking, he lay down the plans for a new party with himself, Feltz and Tobias as the three leaders: himself for founding the party itself, Feltz for his experience and political understanding, and Tobias for his ties with "influential people" (i.e. the media, government ministers, powerful businessmen). Its objectives were four very simple points: #"To overthrow the oppressive and traitorous republican government. #To reorganise the country along fascist and nationalistic lines. #To give ethnic Uranians back their dignity by crushing dangerous, anti-uranian revolutionary groups such as Jews, catholics, Arabs, homosexuals and Muslims. #To gain revenge against Rilgar, Carsia and Jaspar for the Rilgorian War." It was the first point that attracted many business owners and upper-class people to the party, who had lost profits due to the new Social democratic government. The second point was highly popular among the country's huge far-right. The third point attacted huge numbers of poorer, ethnic Uranians who thought immigration was a problem and Uranians needed to be protected. It was also heavily popular amongst the old-fashioned racial purists and racists who held an unhealthy amount of media control. The fouth point, however, was the most attractive amongst ordinary Uranians, many of whom sacrficed so much for a war that resulted in stalemate. It was this final point that Henrys would cling to during his election campaign and during difficult moments of his regime. The crowd roared with approval, and within hours, a highly professional team paid using stolen money were creating millions of leaflets, posters and newspapers to present around the country. The Rise to Power: 3 BNE - 0 ANE By only February, GROSE had nearly 7000 members. They attacked communists and trade unionists, burned down the house of the deputy-president and ignited a 3 day long riot in the centre of Central City. In June, GROSE became a registered national political party. It was at this moment Henries westernised his name for a few reasons: there was another Matau Henries who was financial director of the Communist Party, who at that time was far more notable than Mathew Henrys himself. Also, he wanted to appear a modern, westernised politician who would revolutionise the country to Russianian and Jansian standards. The hardcore felt, however, this betrayed his Uranian nationality. The Army, a vast, powerful organisation that dated back to 300 BNE, and prided itself on its honour and tradition, needed to be woo'd and coerced into supporting Henrys' party. The army's remarkable amount of independence from the state made it an easy target for him. The army was run by a General Staff, a group of aristocratic military men who followed orders from the government, rather than the army being run by civilians. His nationalistic ideas, along with the notion of revenge against Carsia was highly popular among officers, along with Henrys promise to restore the Army back to the strength of the days of the Kingdom. Thousands of officers rushed off to join this new party. Nearly 100,000 from across the country joined, eager to get revenge on Carsia. In July 2 BNE, Hans Robbert of the Uranian Workers Party was elected president. In September, Feltz was poisoned by an unknown assassin. It is almost universally believed this was Henrys and Tobias who killed him for their own gain. By June 1 BNE, over 1 million had joined. In just 2 years, GROSE became the fourth most popular political party in the Uranian Territory. In November, Tobias was demoted to the position of Deputy Leader in order to marry his fiance: an ex-catholic. It brought humiliation to the party, but GROSE were unwilling to lose Tobias due to his external links, and Henrys was loyal to his friend and backed him up. On the 1 January 0 ANE, the New Era Treaty came into effect. All nations of the world had to reduce arms and reduce poverty. This meant reducing the effects of capitalism. GROSE argued that this was communist and infringing on patriotic citizens’ personal liberty. Membership shot up to 3 million. By February, 23 year old Mathew Henries was the leader of the third-most powerful party in the Uranium Territory and ready to fight an election battle. Coup d'état In the 15 September 0 ANE national elections, GROSE came third with 100 seats out of 500, easily over-taking the previous major far-right party, the Nationalists, who gained a humiliating 17 seats. Thousands of fascists rioted in the street and Henrys demanded a recount. Groups of armed GROSE members attacked police stations and left wing political party HQ’s across the country. The Uranium Workers Party, the new government haven taken over from the Conservatives, declared GROSE an illegal organisation due to acts of terrorism and treason and sent the army to quell the riots. On the night of Sunday, 1 October, hundreds of “Black Guards” (Darkene Gauben, abbreviated DG), GROSE’s paramilitary wing, stormed the National Parliament and kidnapped the President, Hans Robbert the Deputy-President, Georgg Funk, and the Premier. Henrys arrived along with Tobias and Johann Gregorie, the leader of the DG. Henrys shot the Premier himself in front of Robbert and ordered him to sign a document removing the Workers Party from government and replacing it with an all GROSE cabinet. When he refused, Tobias shot him, and then ordered Funk to sign. He obliged and after signing it, he too was shot. GROSE now had full power of the cabinet, the army, and the country. Civil War After this short series of events, the Republican government was in chaos. Reports came in that a police patrol that had arrived had been shot at by the DG. This was an act of war on the part of GROSE. The Minister of the Interior, Johann Metz, issued an order to the General Staff to dispatch a unit to the parliament. The General Staff refused, declaring that they were loyal to the imcumbent government: GROSE (in theory at least, after the signing of an official document declaring a handover of government). Furious, Metz then ordered an armed police unit to attack the DG. When Henrys heard the news that the Army refused to attack, but a police unit instead, he screamed at the top of his voice in joy that his plans were working perfectly. The police unit that arrived was fired upon by the DG, before Henry's ordered they cease fire, claiming that the police were now under the command of Tobias, since the coup. When the police refused to obey Tobias, the DG quickly dispatched of them. Metz then issued a statement to the nation that Fascists had killed the president and had installed their own government, and taken control of the army and police. Now out of options, he begged the populace to take up arms in a popular revolt as a last ditch effort to stop GROSE. Hundreds of thousands of Communist and Socialist paramilitaries spilled onto the street and clashed violently with DG and armed fascists. A thousand DG reinforcements arrived at the parliament to assist Henrys; and Tobias made a call for assistance to the Army, who happily obliged. The Army appeared, and began attacking Communists in the streets. Gunfire echoed around the country. Cities became bloodbaths as thousands of Socialists and Communists fought bitterly with DG and the Army. For Henrys, it was an all or nothing situation. By 8:00 on Monday, the day broke to show the horrors of this brief but bloody civil war. The army claimed complete victory, and began mopping up pockets of resistance. Casualty figures show around 11,000 people were killed: 4,000 in Beltondod alone. The army lost 850 men, and civilian casualties were put at 2,000, meaning more than 8,000 socialists, communists and armed civilians lost their lives in their first, last and only chance to stop Uranian Fascism becoming the ideology of the Uranian Republic. In Power Henrys was now the President of the Uranium Territory, and Tobias was appointed the Minister of the Interior. All Parties were very quickly illegalised and destroyed: By 1 November, GROSE was the only political party, and up to 4,000 political enemies arrested. The Army was quickly awarded for its actions and allowed to retain its independent status. On 5 November, Henrys announced the new cabinet, and praised the Uranian people for saving themselves from certain destruction under democracy. On 1 December, at a parade marking GROSE's second month in power, Henrys presented the nation with his new laws and changes. The crowd, despite their lack of civil liberties and democratic rights, seemed happy at their new identity and culture. Economy and Culture